Supportive Behaviour Management
Children are not things to be moulded, they are people to be unfolded
Shocking statistics on disengaged and disaffected young people
One in six teenagers out of work or education for a long period could be dead within 10 years, a senior government education advisor says.
Jon Coles, director of schools for England at the Department for Children, Schools and Families quoted anecdotal research from the north of England.
He said he was "profoundly shocked" by the figures and that he hoped they were not replicated across England.
Ministers said the research did not represent the national picture.
But he quoted research which looked back at the so-called 'Neets' (not in education, employment or training) of 10 years ago, and discovered that 15% of those studied had already died.
read more from the BBC here
I just wonder when we'll get some joined up thinking on deprivation, disaffection and disconnectedness and stop calling it antisocial, lazy, pathetic, idle etc and start considering the underlying factors that lead to this much maligned social group.
Poor experiences at school, poor self-esteem, poor role models, poor literacy skills, inadequate support in times of crisis - ie most of their school lives. They are frequently engulfed in high expectations of teachers and authority figures, charged with self-management, without having the necessary coaching and awareness-raising programmes to help effect a lifelong change. They also live on a daily basis with a well developed sense of apparent uselessness in an academic environment, perhaps with a range of untapped skills that are either ignored or simply not given any time. Many of these include music, art, graffiti, physical and social leadership skills that have no academic value but are the basis of interest that many of this group share.
It's no surprise to me that when trying to re-engage the most complex groups of young people, the whole curriculum, if you can call it such, revolves around doing, enjoying and learning, but not in the formal sense. This leads to a raised view of their capacity to learn and much later on can be converted into academic qualifications, if that's what they want to do. So asking these young people to sit still and learn is a complete non-starter.
We all need to have a wider view of what a successful academic career looks like and make sure that we have a fully inclusive programme for all pupils, including those with the challenges that currently seem to elicit exclusion. In most cases, this is simply not required. What is required is a change of thinking.
What do you think? Comments would be very welcome
Jon Coles, director of schools for England at the Department for Children, Schools and Families quoted anecdotal research from the north of England.
He said he was "profoundly shocked" by the figures and that he hoped they were not replicated across England.
Ministers said the research did not represent the national picture.
But he quoted research which looked back at the so-called 'Neets' (not in education, employment or training) of 10 years ago, and discovered that 15% of those studied had already died.
read more from the BBC here
I just wonder when we'll get some joined up thinking on deprivation, disaffection and disconnectedness and stop calling it antisocial, lazy, pathetic, idle etc and start considering the underlying factors that lead to this much maligned social group.
Poor experiences at school, poor self-esteem, poor role models, poor literacy skills, inadequate support in times of crisis - ie most of their school lives. They are frequently engulfed in high expectations of teachers and authority figures, charged with self-management, without having the necessary coaching and awareness-raising programmes to help effect a lifelong change. They also live on a daily basis with a well developed sense of apparent uselessness in an academic environment, perhaps with a range of untapped skills that are either ignored or simply not given any time. Many of these include music, art, graffiti, physical and social leadership skills that have no academic value but are the basis of interest that many of this group share.
It's no surprise to me that when trying to re-engage the most complex groups of young people, the whole curriculum, if you can call it such, revolves around doing, enjoying and learning, but not in the formal sense. This leads to a raised view of their capacity to learn and much later on can be converted into academic qualifications, if that's what they want to do. So asking these young people to sit still and learn is a complete non-starter.
We all need to have a wider view of what a successful academic career looks like and make sure that we have a fully inclusive programme for all pupils, including those with the challenges that currently seem to elicit exclusion. In most cases, this is simply not required. What is required is a change of thinking.
What do you think? Comments would be very welcome
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